Last Night's Action: Yanks Blow It in Boston

• Red Sox 7, Yankees 6: Alex Rodriguez had two home runs, the Yankees had a four-run lead and everything looked rosy. Then the Red Sox rallied for a five-run eighth and took Mariano Rivera to town. Joe Torre didn't help the cause with some questionable bullpen calls, though no one should have a problem with Rivera's pitching in the eighth inning. Torre might also want to consider not running for Jason Giambi for no reason. He's done this three times this season, and three times he's been burned. Nothing against Kevin Thompson, who replaced Giambi on the basepaths, but Giambi would have been better to have up as the Yankees' last hope. With young pitchers going on Saturday and Sunday, the Yankees will be lucky not to get swept out of Fenway Park.


• Braves 7, Mets 3: As hot as the Mets offense has been, it couldn't touch Braves starter Tim Hudson, who improved to 3-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.62. Mets nemesis Chipper Jones also hit a two-run homer to start the Braves offense. The Mets aren't in first place anymore, either. Good thing it's April.


• Sabres 4, Islanders 3: A late comeback came up short as the Islanders' on-again, off-again season ended Friday. Trailing by three, they came as close as they could to tying the game, but they couldn't close the deal. This outcome wasn't all that unexpected. The Islanders can't be pleased, but they had their chances to draw a more favorable matchup. Their struggles down the stretch of the regular season cost them.


• Devils 3, Lightning 0: Now that's the Martin Brodeur everyone knows and loves. He stopped 31 shots, and the Devils have recovered to be one win away from the conference semifinals. If the Devils win, the Rangers draw the Sabres.

Photograph of a Red Sox fan greeting Yankee Johnny Damon with a sign by Elise Amendola/AP